Friday, June 26, 2009
RIP Michael Jackson
"Lovely One" by the Jacksons, from "Triumph".
I read a few Michael Jackson biographies around the time of "Off The Wall", shortly before the first abuse allegations surfaced. I was fascinated with both his music and his weirdness.
I'm three years younger than him, and it struck me that in a parallel universe, he could have been part of his generation of gay men who avoided the hidden life; who moved beyond the stunted emotional-sexual development that sometimes afflicted the generations above us. Even these days, straight guys fall in love at 12, cry secretly in their mother's arms at 13 when they experience their first rejection by a girl, all the time supported towards adulthood as they learn these lessons. Gay guys go through this in early adulthood, in public, at the same time they're trying to form a new peer support group, surrounded by alcohol in noisy venues. So you have to accelerate the process and catch up, grow up.
While there are billions of people who had and have greater personal battles than Jackson, I find it very sad that he never caught up, and remained lost in a perpetual notion of childhood where he seemed to abuse his power and waste much of his extraordinary talent. Even from our distant, iconic view of him, it seems clear that he never really experienced personal happiness to match the joy that some of his music gave to many of us.
There was a scene in one of the scandal-ridden biographies that has Michael at 16, being discovered in his room by a Jackson's housemaid, sort of half undressed, hanging out with a guy of his own age, things are alluded to but not seen. I just wonder if a more supportive world could have split off to a different future at this point, a world in which he might have ended up as a well-adjusted, happy gay person.
Hopefully after the media drama subsides in a few weeks, we're still left with his extraordinary calls to the dancefloor, like this track "Lovely One" from the Jackson's "Triumph", where his infectuous joy at the rhythm means that we just can't keep still.
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15 comments:
I think you've nailed it, Simon. And thanks for that clip... wonderful music.
Your's is one of the more interesting takes on the life and times of MJ and I appreciate your candour.
However I am not certain that gay people would be happy with linking child abuse and consensual relations between two consenting adults.
I know that you talk about an alternate reality where MJ (and the world) might have accepted and been more accepting of his 'gayness' and I for one would have applauded if he was 'out' gay and happy
As you say people go through a variety of situations and don't respond in the way that MJ 'allegedly' did. Being traumatised or gay or whatever does not give one the right to impose themselves on a minor.
And that's my dificulty. In these situations there's no smoke without fire and the sh1t does stick and we can look at a number of talents who deny the allegations against them, dragging their accusers through the courts and always winning but in the end the truth will come out.
So I am not certain that the frenzy will die? More likely people will feel free to say what they like without fear of prosecution so more stuff is likel to come over the next little while.
By the way you have an excellent blog sir and the respect of me and my peers goes out to you!
Rest in Peace, Michael!
Well said, Simon.
There are days in a life that are forever etched in my mind. The shooting of Kennedy, the shooting of John Lennon and the untimely death of Elvis.
On Thursday the 25th of June, 2009, we all had one of those days.
By some horrible twist of fate, at the time of hearing of Michael's passing, i was listening to 'Gone Too Soon' off the Dangerous CD. It will forever remain the song that reminds me of a man who brought happiness to almost every person on the planet.
May he rest in peace, sadly missed and finally out of reach of the spongers and the demons that attempted the destruction of this true Icon.
very intensive words, thank you. i'll talk about them in scool with my pupils the following days.
but the use of the word "normal" is strange to me .... what is normal?
go on with your wonderful blog. i like it very much.
harry
Thanks for your comment Harry. Looked at my words again and changed "normal" to "well-adjusted". I guess I was looking from a different angle here - a lot of MJ tributes around seemed to be either "forget the other stuff and listen to the music" or "damn this evil paedophile". I think MJ is a litle more complex, so wanted to express that.
MJ is indeed more complex. So complex I didn't even want to take a stab at it. I applaud you for having the courage to do so, and to speak about what many others would prefer be kept silent. As it was, I didn't intend my own post to be a 'forget about all that stuff and listen to the music' post, but in retrospect I feel I resemble that remark. Perhaps not too surprisingly, the smack-down came soon after for the, uh, content, and the entire post was removed. My naivete that performance would be, or even should be, his main legacy is ironically reflected in being forced to take down some of his music. Michael was always the 'property' of someone, and now the battles over representation and interpretation will play out (perhaps) more openly than before. It sounds trite to say "we never really knew him", but... How does nurture a sense of self under both a microscope and a spotlight? If growing up in public is its own nest of snakes, how much doubly so if one's sexual orientation does not conform to implicit or explicit demands on it? I am not sure what Michael's inner demons were. And I am not sure that he was ever sure.
I have watched all this unfold while living in a foreign country, without a television set. I got the news via a phone call while I was in a pharmacy getting the medication that has probably kept me from doing myself in over the last five months. I had seen a news headline that he was in the hospital, earlier, after waking up from an insomnia-fueled nap, so it was not a total shock. But it felt unreal. It still does. The Elvis, Lennon, Kennedy or King comparisons are not meritless. And though I've cracked my own gallows-humor jokes, because that's been one of my survival strategies in my 34 years, I have bristled at hearing others dismiss Michael Jackson as 'criminal', 'pedophile,' or as a subject unworthy of our time, respect, or empathy. He was, and is, an accretion of so much that is problematic in our world regarding celebrity, regarding masculinity, regarding race. In a 'perfect world' this would be a time when conversations could be had that could break down some of these barriers, sweep the mines off the field and make it safer to navigate our way across without fear of a terminal misstep. Unfortunately, different but not entirely dissimilar questions around the years of 2001-02 led mostly to missed opportunities, and I don't have much hope this will be any different.
Simon this is fantastic dance track..i is wonderin' who the backing hornline might be..sounds kinda Earth Wind & Fire..ish ?Any ideas ? cheers bloke
Thanks for your thoughts Flabbergast!
verystupidhead - no specific horn players listed on this track; but the arrangements are done by Michael Jackson and "Tom Tom 84", aka Tom Washington, who arranged for many many people including ... *drumroll* .. Earth Wind and Fire!
Some credit lists for him here , here and here. Busy guy!
Othere people on ths track are Drums - Ollie Brown, Bass - Nathan Watts; Keys - Greg Phillinanes; Guitars - Tito Jackson, David Williams, Mike Sembello; percussion - Paulinho da costa; Lead vox - MJ; backing vox - the Jacksons ...
Hi Simon,great blog,but how can you judge by speculation and hearsay? The man was just a child at,what makes you think he was gay or a child abuser.How can you believe what the media say,you can always find someone to say anything for a few dollars,if they know the person won't hit back.
Hi Soulboy -
Thanks for the comments.
A few things :
I was more interested in the way he seemed emotionally stunted than anything else. Re abuse : note that while I refer to the abuse allegations, I don't accuse him of sexual abuse as such, but his power games with underage kids are pretty heavily documented, so I stand by the 'abuse of power' thing that I DO include.
Re the gay thing : I don't believe in assuming everyone's straight until they're proven gay in a court of law or something, a lot of people are gay. I'm gay. Some people I assume are straight and some people gay.
So I look at Jackson, and I assume he's gay rather than straight - it's not an accusation or a charge or a negative thing. I look at George Bush and assume that he's straight.
All in all, if you have a close read again, I think you'll see that this post is predominantly about a sorrow I feel for his life (and what it could have been), or lives LIKE his, rather than a character assassination. What he represents is more important to talk about than what he is/was, because in the end none of us knew him at all.
Hi Simon,thank you very much for the reply,i understand your point of view. Please keep up the good work,we all appreciate the time and effort you put into your blog. peace,Soulboy
Great post, Simon (yeah, doing some late catch up reading)...in so many ways! And by coincident I stumbled across this today as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI_jkEiPUKs – the best MJ tribute I've seen so far...handled masterfully by Stevie himself!
/Lafayette
hey Laf, that's a great one :) Thanks for the link!
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